South Africa census shows racial income inequality persists

The income of white South African households is six times higher than black ones, according to new census figures released on Tuesday.

President Jacob Zuma said: "These figures tell us that at the bottom of the rung is the black majority who continue to be confronted by deep poverty, unemployment and inequality, despite the progress that we have made since 1994," he said.

Zuma added that while the census showed that "great strides" had been made since Apartheid ended in 1994, more still needed to be done to end disparity.

The statistics highlight that while the income of black households has increased by nearly 170 percent over the last decade, they still earned the least.

South Africa’s population now stands at nearly 52 million, 79 percent of whom are black people. It has risen by seven million since 2001.

The average annual income of a white household sits at around $42,000, followed by mixed race people at $29,100, Indians at $29,000 and black people at $7000.